WILD LIFE: CHAPTER 18 ~RUGBURN~
Baxter had been living in Vinson Massif near Ellsworth University for a few years now. He’d gotten pretty used to the daily routine. However, this morning his routine was interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
*jingle*
"Can't you read? Shops closed, come back in an hour Miss." he said formally
The woman spoke up. "Baxter Denton?"
Upon hearing his name Baxter turned to face his visitor. The stocky, brown haired, blue eyed man was now looking at a young woman wearing a decent sized backpack. "Where'd ya get ma name Miss?"
"A family member is a long time customer and friend of your father, when she told him that I was heading out this way your father begged me to check in on you... Why did he sound so worried?"
Baxter finished preparing a tray of sweet rolls and loaded them into a large oven. "Ya could say that we get along too well." he explained while absently scratching his head and offering the woman a seat. "Ya know me, who are ya?"
"I'm Nadia Williams, nice to meet you."
"Seventh generation baker, Baxter Denton, nice ta meet ya Miss."
As he was pouring her a cup of coffee Nadia spoke up "What does getting along too well have to do with being worried?"
"Well when I opened up shop here good ol' dad offered ta pay fer most of ma expenses and whatnot, after I got on ma feet I took out a small loan and paid him back... I think he might be worried that I'm sinking, the men of ma family tend to be a bit prideful. I'm not as bad as ma brothers but I don't wanna rely on him too much and if I was gonna go under I'd ask for help. He doesn't seem ta get that, I'll give dad a call later and tell him ta quit sending people ta check up on me."
Nadia smiled while Baxter explained the situation. "It's good to have such a caring father."
Baxter looked a little taken aback by her words. "I suppose it is Miss."
"Nadia" she said flatly
"Miss Nadia"
"..." she glared
"Nadia" he said sheepishly
Nadia glanced around the shop. "You said baker but there are sweets as well?"
"Ah, well father taught me ta bake but I went ta school fer sweets." he explained
"Wouldn't most people focus on one or the other?"
"Well I focus on ma baking, sweets are more of a hobby that I'm fond of."
"I see"
Baxter looked at her backpack. "New student?"
"No, I came to see a student though... I just got a bit of a crazy idea and figured I'd pay you a visit while mulling over it until my meeting."
"Crazy huh? Care to share?" he asked curiously
"Well I've been considering leaving the nest for a while now and if things go well with my meeting... I was thinking of opening a cafe here in the marketplace. I saw a few restaurants but is there a cafe here?"
Baxter was now genuinely interested in his visitor. "No... ya know what there ain't one anywhere but the mall and that's way outa bounds for the college students. I bet a cafe'd do pretty darn well right here within walkin distance of the uni."
"Could I order something? I know it isn't open hours yet but I'm curious how good you are compared to your father. I'm quite the fan." she said roguishly
That provoked Baxter's competitive nature. "Wait right here Nadia... oh what would ya say is one of ya favorites?"
"Competing with favorites? That's awfully brave of you."
"It wouldn't feel right otherwise." he claimed
"Your father makes these rather delicious rolls called a chelsea bun, have you got any?"
"I make em' fresh everyday, that's a family recipe that people try ta poach pretty often. You've got good taste."
A few seconds later he returned from the kitchen with a plate and set it down in front of her. "I've never had one so fresh..."
"Then ya in for quite a treat." he said confidently
*om-nom nom nom nom nom*
*MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm* "Soooo good, it tastes just like your fathers sweet rolls."
"Glad ta hear it."
After wiping off her mouth Nadia spoke back up. "So if I opened a shop would you like to work together? You could sell some of your goods in my cafe and I'm certain a decent amount of customers would visit if I offered more than tea and coffee."
"That depends on the quality of ya shop." he said honestly
Nadia smiled "I'm glad you said that Baxter, If my meeting goes well it probably won't take me long to get started. I saw a few nice vacant locations in the market and I've never been one to hold back when I want something."
"What's this meetin about?"
"I intend to bare my heart and soul."
Baxter let out a chuckle, "Sounds serious Nadia, here take a box of chelseas with ya. Butter em' up some."
Nadia smiled "Thank you Baxter, I hope that we end up working together. If your father’s any indication you've got the work ethic to be trustworthy."
"He'll be over the moon when I tell him ya said that."
"Goodbye"
"Good luck." he said waving her off and returning to work.
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Nadia was staring up at the dorm absently. Feeling just a bit nervous she paced back and forth a few times before stopping to muster her courage.
*poke* *poke*
Nadia nearly jumped out of her skin before she turned to face the person who'd poked her in the back. Just as she'd described, 5'5 average not very athletic looking with a long auburn ponytail, semi-dark skin, well rounded brown eyes... and a smaller bust. "Amanda? I like this hair color more."
"I only did it because I like black hair..." she said with a slight smile while eying Nadia's hair.
Nadia hugged her, "It's nice to meet you in the flesh Ashley."
"Likewise... Nadia, that still feels a bit weird."
"I'll probably slip a few times and call you Amanda, it's too similar to Ashley for me to not mess up."
"Well that's not a problem... I forgot that you mentioned the scars back in Fort Odin, is it just the two?" she said as she traced a finger along the long scar that ran across the outer edge of Nadia's face from under her left eye towards her nose at a slant. "This one looks more like a beauty mark to be honest."
"There's lot more that you can't see... a beauty mark huh? Well that's probably because it faded so much over the years." Nadia explained as she gently removed Ashley's hand.
"How long?" Ashley asked
"Eighteen years."
"You were five when that happened!? What's it from?"
"Shrapnel... there's a lot I want to say and I'm not sure how you'll take it. Can we go somewhere more private?"
"Of course, let me introduce you to the dorm mother. After that we can talk in my room."
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"Sally, this is Nadia." Ashley was now introducing her to a burly middle aged woman.
"Ashley already told us about you. Stay out of trouble, you're welcome in the dorm as a guest and the biggest rule is no men. Got it?"
"Got it" she answered
"Then off with ya, go do what kids do these days, have some fun."
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"She was friendly" Nadia said dryly as Ashley closed the door behind her.
"Sally looks after us and makes sure were fed right even when we study. She can be a bit short with people but she means well."
Nadia stalled for time as she absently made her way around the small room and sat on the floor by Ashley's bed.
"Satisfied?" Ashley asked
"More or less." Nadia replied vacantly
"You didn't come all the way here to meet Sally."
"Sorry... most of what I've got to say isn't something you'll enjoy hearing." Nadia said somberly
"I want to know."
"Right, well if at any time you want me to leave, just say the word. I won't argue."
"I won't ask you to leave." Ashley claimed honestly
"You might, you really might... where should I start?"
"How about the beginning?"
"That's the worse part you know?"
"Then you should start there."
"Yeah, I'll try to make this as short as possible but I won't leave anything important out. I don't know my birth parents, I was a war orphan and my oldest memories are of living in the village that may or may not have been where I was born. When I was five soldiers came to the village, they wanted to recruit... not the adults but the children. Do you know how they made child soldiers where I'm from?"
Ashley was trying to repress her emotions. "No"
"They give you a weapon and tell you to kill one of the adults."
Ashley let out a shocked cry "That's terrible!"
"That's not the worst part... the first person I ever killed may have been my father, he begged me to kill him. He said "Kill me, please kill me or they'll kill us both." I listened to him and that night was the first time I broke..."
Ashley was crying now. "That's awful...it's just wrong."
Nadia took one of her hands and spoke "It was a war... I should leave, I don't want to hurt you and the rest isn't pleasant."
"No, tell me... or at least give me a short version for now... please." she said wiping away her tears.
Nadia smiled gently and firmly gripped Ashley's hand. "A lot of bad things happened after that... to give us hope we were told that killing ten people would earn our freedom. I became a monster to survive and when I found out that I'd been lied to it barely even bothered me. My hands are covered in a lot of blood. I think the only reason I came out of that war anywhere near sane is because I never hurt anyone who wasn't trying to kill me... except for the first."
"Where was it?" Ashley asked trying not to sound shocked.
"Far away, not even on this continent. I got lucky... I ran away during the confusion one day and got picked up by a group of mercenaries. Those people sent me away, sent me to the city where I met Julia."
"How old were you? And who's Julia?"
"I was eight at the time and I didn't meet Julia till I was thirteen, so after I ran from the orphanage I spent nearly five years as a homeless kid... don't get me wrong I sort of enjoyed those years."
Ashley gaped at her. "You enjoyed being homeless?"
"Well considering where I came from and the fact that all the other homeless people looked after me... it felt like I had a sort of odd family I guess... not that everyone was nice. A few of them taught me to read and write the native language... talking wasn't so difficult but it was the first time I'd tried to write anything... that was a mess." Nadia chuckled ruefully
"So it wasn't that bad?"
"Well whenever people aren't treating you like garbage or you're starving... yeah it wasn't so bad. I spent most of my time just watching people... sort of like what I did to you, Lily, and Guy when we first met."
Ashley laughed a little "Yeah that was an odd feeling... finding out you weren't an npc and realizing that you'd been spying on us."
"Sorry about that... anyways, I witnessed a crime and Julia was the detective that found me... basically we hit it off and she adopted me."
"That sounds dramatic."
"It sort of was considering she chased me a few miles, cornered me, then badgered me into living with her." Nadia said with a fond smile on her face.
"You really love her huh?"
"More than I thought possible." Nadia looked into Ashley's eyes. "You're the only other person in this world I've ever felt so strongly about."
Ashley blushed "So what happened next?"
"Well she took me in and for more than two years taught me everything she knew, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Julia is my moral compass... honestly before I met her I wouldn't have batted an eyelash if you asked me to execute a criminal... I'd have done it with my bare hands." Nadia said absently looking down at her shaking hands. "I was broken and she put me back together, one piece at a time, I'll love her till the day I die."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Ashley was staring at Nadia's expression and started to cry again when she saw tears running down Nadia's face. "What happened?" she said choking back her tears.
"A friend, another detective betrayed her. We were in a car crash and I watched her die, I caught the traitor and disabled him for life... although with royal road around now I may have to go back and finish the job." she said acidly as Ashley gasped in shock.
"You can't do that!"
"I know, I won't... Julia wouldn't have wanted me to." Hope said feeling a bit disappointed in herself. "Anyways I think you know the rest, I ran away and lived in the wilderness for seven years, royal road and Julia's parents brought me back. After spending nearly three in-game months at the city I started my journey alone, another few months passed until I met your party... then there were some trust issues and now thanks to you I'm a lot better."
"I'm glad that you're starting to feel that way." Ashley said trying not to break into tears again.
"I broke a second time when I lost Julia... All that time in the wilderness and the love that I got from her parents only masked the wound, being with you, traveling with you, eating with you, laughing with you... you healed me Amanda.... Ash."
Ashley blushed again. "I didn't do anything special."
"You tracked me down after I got cross with your friends and demanded we be friends, then you left your guild to follow me into the wild... that's pretty special." Nadia said tightening her grip on Ashley's hand. "I said that you're the second person I've felt this way about but that's not quite right... Julia was like a mother to me and I was still really young." Nadia pulled Ashley's hand closer and placed it over her heart. "Just being near you sets my heart on fire."
Ashley was now blushing furiously as she felt Nadia's heart beating like mad... almost as fast as her own. "Are you saying that..." *gulp* "...you actually love me?"
"If you can accept my past, my skeletons and even the twisted monster that I was, that I might still harbour... then yes, I love you Ashley Renshaw, with every fiber of my being." Nadia claimed honestly without averting her gaze.
Ashley took a few moments to quell her rampaging emotions, she'd never felt so much sorrow and so much happiness at the same time. With crestfallen eyes Ashley placed her other hand on Nadia's cheek. "I love you.... I've had a crush on you since the forge and I've know that I was in love since after the battle at Fort Odin... chasing you into the wild wasn't exactly selfless..." she claimed averting her gaze and giggling a bit.
Nadia pulled her in closer "I'm not complaining..." she said roguishly "...how about we put the bed to use?"
Ashley gaped at her, "That's a bit fast don't you think?"
Nadia grinned impishly while easily picking the taller woman up, "If you want faster I can just give you rugburn."
"Hope!"
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The meeting had gone well to say the least. Nadia was sitting in the marketplace at one its restaurants waiting on a realtor. She'd already found the place to set up shop, now it was just a matter of business. Nadia was quite happily sipping her tea and snacking on some fruit while she waited. The woman hadn't been this happy in years... in forever. Nadia reveled in her newfound emotions and was visibly the happiest person in town. After a few glances and some awkward moments followed by giggling and laughter Nadia managed to reel in her outward appearance and keep the joy inside.
"Miss Williams?" a man's voice called "I'm Robert with Vostok realtors."
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." she said while taking his offered hand and shaking it. "Breakfast?"
"No thank you, I've only an hour before the appointment I mentioned. We really did squeeze you in... you were pretty convincing."
Nadia smiled brightly. "Thank you for giving me your time, shall we go then?"
"Yes, let's." Robert answered
After walking around the corner they came to a building separated from the shopping strip on the end nearest to the university. "I want this place... facing the park is a perk and the size is just about right."
"We're glad that you like it so much but it's a little pricey being in this location." he said honestly
"Money isn't much of an issue, I've seen the asking price. I wouldn't mind if you knocked some off but it isn't too much." she said candidly
Robert looked at her a little shocked "Might I ask how someone as young as yourself came into such wealth?"
"I worked as a cartographer and guide for seven years through some of the most dangerous terrain on Earth, my clients payed well." Nadia answered honestly
"That's pretty impressive, might I ask what you want the place for?" Robert unlocked and opened the front door. "Planning to enter college?"
"No, I fell in love." Robert gaped at her "Now I'm moving here and opening a cafe to be near, the only other family that I have is close enough for me to visit on occasion."
"That's quite a career change, running a business isn't easy."
"I helped with running a cafe, also Baxter and I have an agreement that when I start doing well he’s willing to supply me with baked goods." she explained
Robert looked down at the smaller woman, "Well you've certainly got this all figured out haven't you?"
"I'm trying my best here." Nadia chuckled ruefully
"Baxter is a smart guy, he was definitely the right choice."
"You know him?"
"I sold him his bakery... so we've got a three floor building here, first floor, second floor and basement."
"Oh, didn't notice the basement."
"Besides these two first rooms the kitchen is on the far end of the building... you're planning to knock down a wall and combine the rooms aren't you?"
"Yeah that's why I said buy, not rent."
"The stairs to the basement are in the far room while the second floor stairway is in the kitchen, basement is pretty basic, second floor you've got an entertainment room as well as the master bed & bath... sound good?"
"How old is the building?" she asked
"Less than five years, no old pipes to worry about and I trust the contractor who built this place."
"How long have you been in the business?"
"Thirty-seven years now... you can trust my word on the contractor, buying?"
"Yes, as soon as possible."
"We can hammer out the details right now and I can hand over the keys, utilities won't be difficult to get turned on within the hour, you seem to be in a rush... it must be true love." Robert claimed as he doubled over laughing while Nadia blushed furiously. "I'll take 10% off of the asking price since I like you."
Nadia was taken aback a bit, "That's a lot for a purchase this big isn't it?"
"Yeah it isn't normal but it happens every now and then, the discount comes out of my fee and I don't really mind. I'd like to have a nice cafe right here and I'm sure that my granddaughter will appreciate it."
Nadia was absolutely beaming "I'll do my best to live up to your expectations."
After rushing over and telling Baxter the good news Nadia decided to return to the dorms and tell Ashley what she'd done.
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Sally had called Ashley into the dining room with a serious tone in her voice.
"Ashley you're leaving the dorm as soon as you've got a place to go." Sally did not look happy as she spoke.
Ashley gaped at her, "Why!?"
"You broke rule number 2.”
Ashley took a moment to remember which rule that was then began to blush furiously, "I forgot! Oh crud, what am I gonna tell my parents? Hey mom, dad I got kicked out of the dorm for shagging someone I just met. Oooooooh no." Ashley put her hands on her head while looking down at her feet. ".. wait a second how did you know I broke the rule?"
Sally grinned, "You're a screamer, everybody heard it... seriously though I can't believe the stamina you younger folks have."
At that Amanda fell over embarrassed beyond belief while rolling back and forth across the floor muttering curses.
Nadia walked in through the doorway, "I let myself in.... Ashley what are you doing?" she said with a grin.
"I'm getting kicked out, I broke a big rule... really broke it!" she shouted looking up from the floor.
"Why?... ooooooh..." now Nadia was also blushing "Sorry"
Sally let out a snicker "Well I'm happy and all that you young ones are living your lives but rules are rules, Ashley has to leave."
Nadia started smiling with absolutely pure happiness.
"What are you so happy about?" Ashley asked a bit cross.
"Want to live with me?"
Ashley gaped at her, "My parents would kill me for leaving college, I can't do that!"
"You can stay in college... I may have just bought a place within walking distance... actually a bit closer than the dorm."
"You're kidding?"
"Cross my heart."
"It's been what, three hours? What the heck?"
Nadia gazed at Ashley and licked her lips suggestively. "I had some very good motivation."
Sally started laughing as Ashley turned and hid between her knees again.
"Well... Sally do you have to tell my parents that I'm leaving?"
"No, but I won't lie to them if they come looking for you."
"You really bought a place?" she asked Nadia
"Yeah"
"You wanna move in together? You might not like it."
Nadia grinned impishly, "I seriously doubt that."
Ashley slightly averted her gaze and half-cursed royal road for twisting Nadia's personality.
"Give me a while to pack up, you've still got that rental?"
"For the whole week, I'll buy a car if it looks like we'll need one later... I'm coming with you, left my pack there."
"Oh the big worn out thing right." Ashley teased
"Careful Ashley, everything I own is in that worn out thing."
Ashley gaped at her, "How!?"
"Well I haven't gone shopping since I came back from the wilderness and I only kept what I could carry out there..." she explained looking down at her t-shirt and faded jeans.
"That explains why you brought a machete, that's also how I recognized you from so far away." Ashley chuckled
"Glad to know my habits are being useful... did you tell Guy... Mark about us? I'd hate to cause rifts."
Ashley stopped dead in her tracks, turned and put her head against the wall while sliding to her knees. "Oh penguin..."
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